


15 Days

by Nebulae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Male Friendship, Slow Burn, Step-Brothers, Step-siblings, a lot of fluff, but mostly a happy story i guess, but not really, caring baekhyun, fluff at first, going to be m-rated later on, i don't know how to tag, just a little bit angsty at times, or maybe soon, probably, sweet chanyeol, teasing chanyeol, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 19:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8298464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulae/pseuds/Nebulae
Summary: Baekhyun couldn't have asked for more. His mother was finally happy again. He liked his stepfather and his new home was great too. And the best new thing had to be his step brother. Of course it was just "body appreciation" as Baek liked to call it. But was it really just that?





	1. Prologue: D -1

**D-1**

 

Baekhyun was only 4 years old when his parents split up. His father didn’t want to have anything to do with his Mom or Baekhyun himself. He just disappeared. But Baekhyun would lie if he said that he missed his father in his life. Even little 4 year old Baekhyun didn’t feel that much attachment towards his father. That man was barely home at hole, and all Baekhyun was able to remember of him was the disgusting smell that always lingered on him. Cigarettes and alcohol. Which wouldn’t be that bad, really. But he smelled like something else too. If Baekhyun thinks about it now, was it the sweet perfume of other women? Was the little Baekhyun able to feel somehow, that his father did things he wasn’t supposed to do? Was that the reason why Baekhyun always preferred his mother?

 

If Baekhyun would think a bit more about it, he would maybe really figure out, why he never loved his father. But Baekhyun never wanted to think about it too long. Because it always remembers him of his crying mother. In his memory, she was never smiling much. And she only cried or frowned when she was with his father. Baekhyun was actually thankful, that his father left himself. He was pretty sure his mother would have suffered much longer, because she would have never left him. Was it because she loved him? Who knows. Baekhyun never talked about him with his father.

 

Only once, when he was around 13 or 14 he caught his mom sitting in the living room in the middle of the night. He only wanted to get something to drink from the kitchen, and didn’t expect to see his mother still wide awake, eyes lingering on the TV. She was watching an old VHS, and it was some sort of a concert. The music wasn’t something he was used to hear. It sounded sorrowful and passionate. A piano, the warm sound of a string bass and the calm sounds of drums harmonized so well with the voice of the singer. He was enjoying the sound of it.

 

Baekhyun remembers walking to his mom and sat himself besides her on the couch. His eyes were glued on the TV, but after a while he glanced at her. And he noticed that she was silently crying. He didn’t understand.

 

“Is the music so sad, mom?” he asked her back then.

 

She smiled, a bitter smile and shook her head. She then took Baekhyun in her arms and patted his head. “My Baek, I’m so glad to have you.”

 

Baekhyun didn’t understand her back then. It took him some time to figure out that the singer of that jazz group was his father. He didn’t even recognize his own father. Well, there weren’t any pictures of him. And even if there were, he had never seen any. And his memories of him only consisted of his smell. He only realized that it was his father, because after some time his mother told him to put out the trash, and that’s when he had seen that VHS in the trash can. The VHS his mother was watching. And on the back of it the names of the musicians were listed.

 

Why Baekhyun was thinking about all that now was something he didn’t quite understand himself. Maybe it was, because now, 18 year old Baekhyun was able to see his mother happy again. His mother was dating after all this time. She was finally able to move on. He never believed to see his mother being so happy and smiley all the time. She was in the best mood, joking a lot more and silently singing and humming tunes while doing chores.

 

He was truly glad for her. He always told her that she should move on. She should date and live her life. She often told him, that he was all she needed. She was glad to have her little Baek, and she was happy with just that. But it seemed like she met someone who was able to change her mind and he was really thankful towards that man.

 

That’s why he liked that man, his mother’s boyfriend, from the start. He was a cheerful person, very polite and gentleman-like and he treated his mother how she deserved it.

 

He had seen him quite a lot, and they were dating for some time. And one day his mother was especially happy, telling Baek that they both were invited by her boyfriend for dinner. And that they had something important to tell.

 

Baekhyun wasn’t completely stupid, and already knew what it probably was. Would they marry? That was nice news actually. He couldn’t help smile, as his mom and him made their way to her boyfriend’s house. Of course, even though Baekhyun was glad for his mom, he felt a bit nervous. That meant he had to move in with that man, right? If he remembered correctly, the man said he had a son too. He didn’t know much about him though. He didn’t even know how old he was or which grade he was in. He just knew that his name was supposedly Chanyeol.

 

That’s why he was a bit nervous. Living with someone he didn’t know wasn’t something he looked forward that much. But if he took after his father, even in the slightest, he couldn’t be that bad of a person.

 

However, when they finally reached the house of his mother’s boyfriend, and said person opened the door with a big smile and walked them in, there was no son in sight.

 

“Make yourself at home, dinner will be ready in a minute.” His soon to be stepfather told them, but his mother insisted to follow him to the kitchen to help him cook, leaving Baek alone in the living room/dining room. He looked around. You could tell that there was no woman living here, since there wasn’t much useless decoration; but he still felt comfortable here. The furniture was mostly dark, just like the floor, while the walls were painted in a comfy beige. In the corner left to Baekhyun there stood a sideboard, on top of it there were a lot of books, but he noticed the picture frame standing there as well. He smiled when he realized that it was his mother’s boyfriend, holding a little boy in his arms. So this was his son? Baekhyun slowly walked towards the sideboard to take a closer look at the picture, so he picked it up and as he was looking at the boy, a voice suddenly surprised him.

 

“I was a cute child, right?” Baekhyun quickly looked over his shoulder, before he turned completely and he looked at a really handsome looking boy, and he was much taller than Baekhyun, much to his dismay.

 

“Oh, you must be Chanyeol.” Baekhyun smiled after he realized that, and so did the tall boy in front of him.

 

“And you must be my soon to be brother”, Chanyeol grinned.

 

“So I’m not the only one suspecting what they’re going to tell us?”

 

Chanyeol laughed. “They’re being too obvious.”

 

Beakhyun was surprised to say at least. He didn’t expect that Chanyeol would be around his age. He didn’t exactly know why, but he thought that Chanyeol was going to be a much younger boy. But since he seemed to be a pretty fun guy, it didn’t really matter.

 

“I’m Baekhyun by the way,” he said after he put down the photo back to its place. “And yes, you were a cute child.” _Still are._ Baekhyun thought and laughed.

 

At that moment Baek’s mother was coming from the kitchen, “Oh Chanyeol, nice to meet you.”

 

“Good evening,” Chanyeol greeted her, and his smile grew wider. Baekhyun didn’t know why, but it made him smile too, and with a smile on everybody’s lips they sat together and had dinner, getting to know each other and getting to know that indeed the both boys were correct: They were going to be brothers from now on.

 

\---

 

 

Only about a month later, Baekhyun and his mother were moving in to that house. It was quite spacy, and the room just beside Chanyeol’s was empty anyways, that’s why it was going to be Baekhyuns room from now on. Everything seemed great. The house was nice, his new family was nice, and it couldn’t have been better, Baekhyun thought. There was nothing else he could wish for.

 

And he really got quite friendly with Chanyeol too. But since they didn’t go to the same school, he didn’t see Chanyeol that much, and when they saw each other they were most of the time just playing some video games or talking about random stuff. Baekhyun also found out that Chanyeol was really into music, since there was not only one but two guitars in his room and a huge e-piano as well. Since Baekhyun loved music as well, they talked about that a lot too. They got to know each other. And Baekhyun was still happier than ever. But as if there just had to be something, to destroy that luck. It was never a secret that Baekhyun wasn’t that interested in girls. But until now he was never that interested in guys either. He had a boyfriend, and maybe some flings, but that was it. Well, maybe it was his little secret, since Baekhyun never really told his mom that he was gay, but he was pretty sure that she figured it out anyway.

 

But Chanyeol was pretty handsome; there was no reason to lie about that either. At first Baekhyun didn’t really think much about it. Of course he liked to look at a pretty face. That’s why when he first started to notice that he looks a bit differently at Chanyeol, he didn’t think much of it at first. It was just his eyes appreciating Chanyeol’s good looks. From his height, to his dark but still bright eyes… They reminded Baek of a cute looking puppy. And he loved puppies.

 

But even better than his eyes was the ever present smile on the boy’s full lips. They sometimes made Baek a bit confused. Would they taste as good as they looked? And were they really so soft? He was curious about it. But that was it. Baekhyun knew that was all there was to it. Simple body appreciation. It’s not like he didn’t do that with his friends too. For example Sehun’s butt when he wore the school uniform looked really fine, there was no denying that.

 

He didn’t think too much about it, knowing that it would be better that way. But one day, about a month after the marriage and after they moved in, his mother was telling him and Chanyeol over breakfast that she was really excited, because Chan’s father decided that they should go on their honeymoon.

 

“That’s cool,” Baekhyun commented with a small smile.

 

Chanyeol was munching on his toast while he asked, “Where are you going?”

 

“I don’t know, your father wants it to be a surprise for me”, she grinned from ear to ear as she talked about it, and Baekhyun was once again glad that his mother was able to be so happy now. “I just know that the flight is tomorrow evening.”

 

“Already?” Baek asked and raised his eyebrows.

 

“It’s a bit sudden, I know. That’s why I’m telling you now… You can take care of yourself, right? We’ll be back in two weeks” She looked from her own son, to Chanyeol, and back. The two boys nodded.

 

“You raised Baek well, right? He’s going to _take good care_ of me. Right, Hyung?” he grinned.

 

Baekhyun didn’t know if he was imagining it, but that sounded quite suggestive. Wait. Stop. Of course Baekhyun was only imagining it. For all he knew, Chanyeol was pretty much straight. Well, actually they never talked about it. But Baekhyun just concluded it. Chan was good looking, and with his outgoing personality he was sure that Chanyeol was pretty popular with girls. And second of all, he wouldn’t say such things when his mother was present, right? Even if he meant them.

 

“Of course he will”, his mother answered with a laugh, unaware of Baekhyun’s thoughts.

 

“Yeah, of course.” Baekhyun cleared his throat before he talked and avoided Chanyeol’s eyes. _Two weeks with Chanyeol. Alone._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is not my first language, so please be understanding with me! I try my best, but it's been a while for me to write English stories.  
> Also, I'd really appreciate if you leave a comment if you liked the prologue. Thank you for reading this and have a nice day! ^-^


	2. Day 1 (The first evening)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The parents finally leave for their honeymoon. Chanyeol and Baekhyun make plans for the next day.

**Day 1 (The first evening)**

 

It was late Sunday afternoon when Baekhyun was sure that his mother wasn’t just joking around with the honeymoon, since she was packing her luggage all day long. She was never the spontaneous type, so he was quite surprised to say at least. But that didn’t mean he disliked it. Two weeks alone.

Just him and Chanyeol. Yes, that sounded good. His secret acts of “body appreciation” would be much easier in that time. Looking at his handsome stepbrother was one of his new favorite things to do, but getting caught staring at him by his mother or - even worse – his stepfather, wasn’t something he wanted to happen.

That’s maybe why Baekhyun had a hard time, trying to not look too happy when his mother was leaving later that day. She and her newly-wed husband were taking their time to say their good byes however.

“I’ve put some food in the fridge, make sure to eat it. And don’t stay up too long, especially on school nights!”

“Mom.”

“Call me if something happens! I’m going to take my phone with me. And pick up when I call you!”

 _“Will do…”_ Baekhyun _almost_ rolled his eyes.

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay? And good luck with your test. I know you’ll pass this time”

“ _…_ ” And while a heavy sigh left his mouth, he couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes any longer.

“Yes, I love you too!” She gave him a last hug, and a quick glance at Chanyeol’s directions showed him, that Chanyeol had a similar conversation with his dad, or so it seemed. “I’ll call when we land! Be sure to pick up!”

“You’ve said that already like what? A thousand times?” Baekhyun eventually smiled, thinking that it was so typical of his mother to worry that much. “Have fun, okay? Just think about yourself for once, hmm?” His mom slowly nodded.

Baekhyun’s glance wandered to Chanyeol for a moment, and the other boy wasn’t in a better situation than he was. Finally, with a few more good byes the two of them took their suitcases and left for the airport.

Baekhyun took a relieved, long breath and ran his fingers through his smooth hair. The two boys stared at the closed door for a few seconds, before Baek turned to Chanyeol, “I thought they’d never leave.”

“2 weeks from now” The taller nodded, an adorable half smile on his lips. Baekhyun hoped that he would be able to see even more of those smiles the next days.

“Thank God. Let’s hope they won’t pass by too fast.”

Chanyeol agreed to that. “That’s why I’m not going to waste time. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Baekhyun felt a bit disappointed at that, but there was nothing he could say. _‘No, let me admire that nice body of yours a bit longer?’_ Well, it wasn’t like he had nothing to do anyway. His driving test would be soon. His second try at that. And he absolutely didn’t plan to fail it again. Taking the test a third time? No thank you.

Being that lazy ass he was, it was his own fault to fail the theory part. Baekhyun knew that himself. This time though, he studied a lot more, and he was pretty confident that he would pass the written test…But he wasn’t sure if that was going to help him much. Unfortunately, d _riving_ wasn’t his specialty either.

 _‘Whatever_ ’, Baekhyun thought as he was lying on the couch in the living room, with the workbook in his hands. ‘ _Better do what I can’_.

\---

An hour or so passed since Chanyeol was working on his song. He wasn’t too happy with it though. No matter what he did, no matter how he arranged it, it didn’t seem to sound right. He knew that Baekhyun liked to listen to music as well, so he decided to ask him for his opinion about it. Maybe he would give some honest feedback, which Chanyeol would appreciate very much. Baekhyun didn’t seem to be in his room, that’s why he made his way downstairs. He didn’t have to look for Baekhyun long, because as soon as he entered the living room, he saw his stepbrother sprawled out on the couch with a book resting flat on his face. Silent, steady snores were coming from underneath the pages.  

It made the tall boy smile to see Baekhyun sleeping like this. With slow steps he walked over to him, thenl squatted down beside him, only after he put the guitar on the table. He tried to make as little noise as possible doing so.  

Now he had to decide whether to leave Baekhyun be or to wake him up. It didn’t take him long to decide for the latter.  

He knocked on the book cover and Baekhyun let out a displeased moan instantly, trying to slap away Chanyeol’s hand, but he was far too slow to do so. “Nggh… Go away” he mumbled.

“Aww,” Chanyeol fake pitied him, “Shouldn’t you be studying?” He removed the book from Baek’s face, just do be able to look at his bothered expression. Chanyeol had to admit that his stepbrother looked cute with his brows knitted, his eyes tightly shut and his lips slightly parted.

Baekhyun quickly covered his face with his hands, though. “Why.” An almost angry groan escaped his mouth. “Why did you wake me up? I had a nice dream.” His muffled voice sounded deeper than usual and a bit scratchy. 

“You wanna go back to dram land or what??” Chanyeol played offended and threw the book on Baek’s stomach, which made the older boy wince in slight pain.

“ _Chanyeol_ ”, he whined, but then he finally gave up and slowly sat up. He blinked a few times but his eyes needed some time to adjust to the light in the living room. The first thing he noticed was the guitar, which Chanyeol was picking up again at the very moment. “If you’re going to play me a lullaby I might will.” Baekhyun replied.

“A lullaby?” Chanyeol laughed and the next moment he was sitting beside Baekhyun, now that there was enough space. Without a second thought he started to play a few chords.

Baekhyun seemed to recognize the song in an instnt. “You’re kidding, right?”

Chanyeol just shrugged, before he was starting to sing the first part of the lyrics. _“Tale as old as time~”_

“That’s not even a lullaby!” Baekhyun started to laugh. But fuck it. It was a Disney song, he simply couldn’t stop himself from continuing it.

“ _True as it can be.”_ And he was continuing the first verse, not even the slightest bit embarrassed that he knew each and every word of it. When the “Beauty and a Beast” part came, Chanyeol tried his best to sing the second harmony. They eventually had to stop at that point, because both of them burst out laughing about themselves.  

Chanyeol calmed down first. “Oh my god, are you secretly a Disney Fanboy, Baekhyun?”

The older one shook his head, still grinning. “You’re one to talk.”

Chanyeol’s smile grew, but then his face got serious again.  “But seriously, I never realized you could sing… well… like that. I’m almost lost for words, and I’m not easily speechless.” It was true. Baekhyun’s voice control was unbelievable.  

Baekhyun shrugged. “Don’t exaggerate.”

“I mean, you didn’t sing much just now. But you sing like it’s the most natural thing for you.” He sounded impressed, “Why are you hiding such a talent? It’s such a waste.”

“I’m not _hiding_ it. I just don’t like singing in front of others.”  

“There’s no reason to be insecure about your voice!” Chanyeol quickly answered.

“It’s not because I don’t have confidence in my voice.” Baekhyun assured.

“So you’re saying that you _know_ that your voice is bomb?”

Baekhyun sighed, but a grin spread on his lips nevertheless. “I’m just saying that I know I’m not half bad. And I really do love singing.” He paused for a moment there, before he added, _“For myself.”_

Chanyeol raised a brow, “…but why?”

“Just because.” Baekhyun made a pause, and watched at Chanyeol’s unsatisfied expression. “But thanks for the compliments anyway.” He didn’t give Chanyeol a chance to question him any further about it. That’s why he changed the subject quickly. “So what’s the reason for waking me up in the first place?”

Chanyeol was really curious about the whole thing, since Baek was making a big secret about it. It was obvious that there was a reason as to why Baekhyun acted that way. Maybe he experienced something embarrassing, while singing in front of others? Or maybe he really was just that insecure about himself, and just denied it. Baekhyun didn’t seem like the insecure person though.

It was pretty clear that Baek wouldn’t give him an answer that quickly, that’s why he eventually decided to let it go. _For now._ Sooner or later he would be able to make Baek talk about it.

“I actually wanted to hear your opinion about the song I’m working on right now… But I guess I’m not going to play it for you.” Chanyeol’s half smile was back, and Baekhyun thought he was going crazy. Unnecessarily handsome and bothersome stepbrother.   

“You’re even worse than a little kid.”

“I know.” Chanyeol answered. “No, but I _just_ had some new ideas for the song… so wait just a little longer, and you’ll be the first one to hear it. Promise.”

Baekhyun’s eyes turned into crescents shapes, when he couldn’t hold back his own smile any longer. The two of them looked at each other for a moment or two, before the book on Baekhyun’s lap caught Chanyeol’s attention once again.

“Please tell me you’re planning to pass this time.”

Baekhyun looked at the book as well, and a deep sigh left his mouth. He slumped into the couch, before he threw the book on the table with a loud thud. “Since I started dreaming about that damn book and those stupid questions in it, I think I’ll pass the theory part.” He gave Chanyeol a side glance. _“But the actual driving part is a whole nother story.”_ He mumbled, Chanyeol barely made out the words.

“It won’t be that bad, believe me.” Chanyeol patted Baekhyun’s shoulder in a comforting manner.

“It’s easy for you to say that. You already have your license.”

“Hmm…” Chanyeol stretched the sound a little while. He was thinking about how he was able to help his stepbrother. “Should I give you some driving lessons tomorrow?” He offered. “Maybe you’ll get used to it a bit more, so you don’t have to worry so much about it.”

“Is that even legal?” Baekhyun raised a brow, as well as the right corner of his mouth. “You don’t have your license that long either.”

Chanyeol laughed. “Do you actually care about that?”

“Not really, no.”

“Then let’s go for a drive tomorrow.” Chanyeol beamed, “But in exchange you’ll have to sing my song when it’s finished.”

Baekhyun didn’t need long to think about it. Singing in front of Chanyeol wasn’t so bad anyway. He was able to look at his pretty face while doing so, so why not?  And most of all, wasn’t it a big honor to sing something that nobody ever sung before? Something completely self-made by Chanyeol.

“Okay, deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work has been keeping me busy, but I still hope you like this chapter! c:


	3. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanyeol just wanted to teach Baekhyun how to drive. What happened after that was unexpected.

**Day 2**

“Why can’t I sleep over today?” Sehun whined loudly, not even botherin about the literature class in the slightest. Not like the teacher cared either, he was sitting on his chair with a book in his hands and told the class to read the assigned book as well. Not that he cared if they didn’t. How such a person was able to not get fired was beyond Baekhyun’s imagination, but at least he enjoyed literature classes pretty much thanks to that.  “I thought your parents aren’t home?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. Sehun was annoying him since morning about it. “I told you that I have to study for my license.”

“You failed once already, so it doesn’t matter if you fail a second time. Just let me stay over today and try it a third time.” The blonde continued.

“Sometimes I question myself why I keep you as my friend.” Baekhyun shook his head, and grinned. “But why do you want to sleep over so badly? How about sleeping in your own bed?”

Sehun shrugged. “My parents keep pissing me off. They’re freaking out because it’s our last year in school and apparently I’m not the son they hoped I’d be. They’re against everything I wanna do, and I definitely won’t study some boring bullshit like they want me to.”

“At least you know what you wanna do. I don’t even know that.” Baekhyun answered, having similar troubles as his friend.

“It’s not like I’m allowed to do that anyway.” The two of time let out a depressed sigh at the same time, and were silent for some seconds, before Sehun turned to Baekhyun once again. “So let me sleep over, huh? Please?” He tightly grabbed Baekhyun’s arm and blinked at him.

Baekhyun clicked his tongue, and frowned at Sehun. “Who taught you to be so _disgustingly cute?”_

“I learned from the best”, Sehun lightly poked Baek’s upper arm.

Baekhyun almost gave in. But he couldn’t. “Maybe tomorrow, but I have plans today.” An anticipating smile crawled on his lips.

“Plans? Which plans with whom?” Sehun raised a brow. “Don’t tell me you’re dating? A guy?” Sehun was aware of Baekhyun’s interest in men.

Baekhyun looked at him with big eyes, and his smile disappeared in an instant. “Yah, I told you I’m going to study. I don’t even have time to date.”

“If you say so.” Sehun was disappointed to go home after school, but at least he found out some interesting news today, to tease Baekhyun even more in the future. Because that smile on his friend’s face definitely meant that there was _someone_. And Sehun would make sure to find out about that special someone.

\---

Baekhyun and Sehun were leaving school, when the shorter one suddenly got a text. The blonde noticed the same smile on Baek’s face as before.

_Chanyeol: I’m waiting at the lot._

Being the curious creature he was, Sehun glanced at his friend’s phone and smirked. So his name was Chanyeol? That name did ring some bells, he heard it somewhere before. But that was about it. Was one of Baek’s exes named Chanyeol and that was the reason why he remembered that name? No. There was no such name in Baek’s history.

“Have fun with your parents! I have to go.” Baekhyun mocked and before Sehun could even come up with a reply, Baek was already heading off.

“ _You have fun with your_ Chanyeol _, dipshit._ ” Sehun mumbled.

\---

It didn’t take Baekhyun long to spot Chanyeol. He too was wearing his school uniform. (Which was nicer than his own Baekhyun thought; black trousers and a grey jacket with a white dress shirt, it was very much to his taste. But maybe Baekhyun simply preferred it because of the person wearing it)

But the thing that stood out the most was the car, Chanyeol was leaning on. His father’s white Mercedes to be exact. People were looking at the luxurious coupé and the handsome boy who seemed to be the owner of it. When Chanyeol noticed Baekhyun, he gave him a quick wave.

“What the-“, Baek eyed the car once again before he gave his stepbrother a displeased look. “Didn’t you say _I_ should drive?”

Chanyeol opened the driver’s door and gestured Baekhyun to get in the car. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

“Couldn’t you... I don’t know, take my mom’s car?” His mother’s car was more or less the complete opposite of the Benz. A plain car, simply meant for driving. It had one or two scratches already and nobody would’ve cared if there was another one.

This however… was this 70.000 Dollars? More? Probably. “What if I bump into something? Your father’s going to kill me.”

“I’m pretty sure he’d kill us both.” Chanyeol laughed. “Get in.”

“No.”

“I skipped my last class just to pick you up, so hop in already.”

Baekhyun gave Chanyeol a doubtful look.  

“It’ll be fun, believe me.” Chanyeol’s charming smile was somehow encouraging enough, and Baekhyun found himself holding the wheel seconds later, with the taller one sitting beside him.

“My palms are sweating already.” he said, as he checked side and rear view mirror. He started the motor and it was so silent, he wasn’t even sure if he really did start it. “You’ve never seen me drive, have you? Otherwise you wouldn’t trust me with this car.” He put the car into reverse, and slowly tried to get out of the parking spot.

“Nah, it can’t be that ba- Wait, stop, wait!” Chanyeol yelled, and Baekhyun braked hard. “There’s a car coming!”

“What? Where?”  Baekhyun’s heart almost stopped in horror.

Chanyeol laughed however and Baekhyun watched him in confusion. “Just kidding.”

“Do you want me to have a heart attack?”

“Maybe?” Baekhyun decided to ignore his toothy grin, or else he wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

It took him some time to get out of the narrow space without bumping into the cars next to him, but after Chanyeol stopped his teasing, he eventually succeeded. He carefully moved the car out of the lot and Baekhyun started to get extremely nervous when he was actually driving on the street. “Should I just randomly drive around?”

“How about we grab some food when we’re out already?” Chanyeol didn’t wait for an answer, instead he gave Baekhyun the first directions. “Take the next left.”

“Do I have to get in _this_ lane? Should I indicate? Is it too soon?”

“Baek, calm down.” It was the first time that Chanyeol called him by this nickname. It was nice, hearing it from him. But it absolutely didn’t help him in any way.

“How am I supposed to calm down? I have no idea what to do.”

“If you don’t manage to turn left here, we’ll take the next one. Somehow we’ll get to where we want. It’s as easy as that.” Now these words would’ve been somewhat reassuring. But the way Chanyeol put his palm on Baek’s thigh, definitely wasn’t. Since Chanyeol was innocently looking at the street, Baekhyun was pretty sure that he did it without any deeper meaning behind it. But shit, it made him loose his cool all over again. _What is he even doing? Did Chanyeol want them to have an accident that badly? Wait. Shit. Concentrate on the street._

“Okay.” Baekhyun was finally able to mumble, after an awkward cough. Chanyeol told him step by step what to do, and they successfully turned left. Baek managed to follow Chanyeol’s directions without a problem, even in the busy evening rush hour. He was almost proud of himself (let’s not mention that he accidently cut off a few people, and almost went through a red light). But without Chanyeol’s encouraging words and patient instructions it wouldn’t have been possible. And don’t forget his touch. It distracted Baekhyun so much, that he wasn’t even able to think about his inability to drive. He simply did what Chanyeol told him.

They’ve driven around for good 30 minutes when Baekhyun finally asked. “Are we driving out of town, or what?” 

 Chanyeol laughed, but shook his head. “We’re almost here, you can park the car over there. It’s just a minute away if we walk from here.”

The shorter nodded, but parking was something that Baekhyun didn’t master yet. He tried to do it exactly like the driving instructor taught him, but after a while he lost his patience and just got out of the car.  

“I guess we’ll have to practice that some other time.” Chanyeol grinned, when goton the driver’s seat and parked the Mercedes without a problem. Baekhyun observed him, but it was a mystery to him why Chanyeol was able to find the right angle to approach the spot right away and he didn’t. Chanyeol finally got out of the car, and gestured Baekhyun to follow him.

“I’m just not made for driving.” They waited for the light to go green before they crossed the street.

“You’ve done pretty well.” Chanyeol praised. “I expected worse.”

Baekhyun laughed at that. “Why does this sound like an insult?”

Chanyeol looked down at him and the right corner of his mouth went up. Baekhyun unconsciously bit his lips. Chanyeol was trying to kill him in some way or another.

They crossed the street and after some more walking they finally reached their destination.

“A galbi place?” The shorter one raised a brow, when Chanyeol opened the door and held it open for Baekhyun, who walked right in.

His eyes wandered around, as the mouth-watering smell of food hit his nostrils. He had to admit that the atmosphere inside was actually pretty cozy. The lighting was dim, but it added to the homey feeling of the place. There weren’t too many people either, and Chanyeol quickly walked over to a vacant table in the corner. The two of them sat down.

“Not just _any_ galbi place. _The best_ galbi place in Seoul. Their side dishes are mind-blowing.” Chanyeol explained.

Baekhyun seemed surprised, “How do you even know this place?”

 “Back then when my mom was still alive we used to live around here. We visited this place quite often.”  Baekhyun could have sworn that there was a sad glint in Chanyeol’s big eyes. He felt sorry that he was even asking. The unhappy expression didn’t suit Chanyeol well.

Baekhyun wanted to change the topic quickly, but at the very moment he opened his mouth, a woman in her late forties approached their table. “What can I get you, boys?” she asked with a tired voice.  She was probably the owner of this place, or so Baekhyun thought.

“We’ll take two orders of galbi and-“, Chanyeol started, but then it crossed his mind that Baekhyun maybe didn’t even like beef. He looked at him and wanted to ask him, but Baekhyun was already continuing their order.

“And please get us two bottles of soju as well.” The woman smiled at that, but nodded and left for the kitchen.

“Soju?” Chanyeol asked, clearly amused. “Aren’t you supposed to drive us home?”

“Can’t _you_ drive back home?” Baekhyun whined with a quiet voice. “It’s just… Soju and galbi belong together.”

“And that’s why you ordered two bottles? Are you telling _me_ to drink and drive?” The taller one gave him a lopsided grin.

Baekhyun shrugged, “Well, I just ordered without thinking. I mean, you don’t have to drink.”

“Let’s drink some other time together.” Chanyeol said after a while and Baekhyun’s face seemed to light up at that.

“Can I get some water instead, please?” Chanyeol asked the woman, when she came back from the kitchen and brought them the first side dishes.

“Right away.” She said and quickly brought them the soju and water.  A moment later she brought the marinated meat, and Chanyeol turned up the grill on the table. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, he was obviously looking forward to taste the meat. _Baekhyun’s fantasy went wild again._

As soon as the grill was hot enough, he wanted to distract himself, by putting the first slices of the galbi on it, but Chanyeol wouldn’t let him. “I’m the younger one, let me do it.” He glanced at Baekhyun for a second. “That, and I’m a pro at cooking meat.” Chanyeol bragged.  

Baekhyun watched him, as he carefully put the thin slices on the grill. “So you _do know_ that you’re younger. Why don’t you call me Hyung then?”

Chanyeol glanced at him. “Isn’t it somewhat weird if I call you that?”

“Why would it be weird? Don’t you call your older friends Hyung? And _I am_ your brother, technically speaking.” Baekhyun wanted to hear it from him, but Chanyeol continued to refuse.

“You’re just half a year older than me anyway.” Chanyeol put some more beef on the grill, and Baekhyun knew the discussion ended before it even started. Well, he could live with Chanyeol calling him _Baek_ , too.

He opened the bottle and filled his shot glass to the brim, before he gave Chanyeol yet another questioning look. “You sure that you don’t want some?”

Chanyeol shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“You really don’t mind driving back? I don’t have to feel guilty for drinking?”

Chanyeol noticed how Baekhyun’s eyes wandered back and forth from him and the glass filled with soju. He smiled at the shorter boy. “No I don’t mind it. I prefer beer with my meat anyway.”   

“Okay. I’m just having one sip then. Drinking alone is boring anyway.”

\---

 _One sip my ass,_ Chanyeol thought. It started off with one sip, yes. But soon it became the whole glass and when the first bottle was empty, Baekhyun ordered another two. And that’s how they enjoyed the meal together. If Baekhyun’s drunk behavior wouldn’t have been that cute, Chanyeol would’ve stopped him.

“I’m dying for this kimchi right now.” Baekhyun said when he was eating the last slice of meat together with said side dish.

Chanyeol grinned. “I told you this place is great, didn’t I? “

“I don’t know, did you?” Baekhyun shut his eyes tight, he was deep in thoughts. “Ah, right you did.” He put his chopsticks down and emptied the glass then.

“Are you finished?” Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun nodded quickly, maybe a bit too quickly, it made his head spin.

Chanyeol asked for the bill and paid. He got up after that, and when he noticed how Baekhyun struggled to stand up he walked to him and gave him a hand to help him stand on his feet. Baek breathed out a quick “Thanks.”

But walking without support seemed impossible, so he clung onto Chanyeol’s arm himself, when they left the restaurant. But the taller one didn’t mind much. It was pretty chilly outside anyway, and drunk Baek gave off some nice warmth while being so close to him.

“You know I’m really happy.” Baekhyun slurred when they waited for the light to turn green in order to cross the street.  

The boy looked up to meet Chanyeol’s gaze and Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile at him. He looked even shorter now that he was clinging onto him. The red light made Baekhyun’s face shine in a mysterious way and his dark hair shimmered as well.

“Why, because I paid?” Chanyeol cocked his head to the side.

“No.” Baekhyun shook his head. “I mean yes that makes me happy too.” He made a short pause, and played with the button of Chanyeol’s jacket instead. “But I feel kinda special that you brought me to this place. You must have some nice memories with your mom here?”

“I guess.” Chanyeol couldn’t help but ruffle through the short boy’s hair and laugh. “But now I’m adding more memories to that.”

Baekhyun punched Chanyeol’s chest weakly. “Yah, I don’t want you to remember me drunk like that.”

“Who says I’m going to remember _that_?” The traffic lights turned green when the shorter boy blinked at him in mild confusion.

“Then what else are you going to-“

Baekhyun got interrupted by a quick peck on his cheek, before Chanyeol grabbed his hand and dragged him along with him to cross the street. “ _That’s_ something to remember.”

Baekhyun blankly stared at the back of Chanyeol’s head while they walked to the car. Even though he was drunk, he was aware of the fact that this seemed unreal. He wasn’t sure if he just imagined the whole thing. Especially Chanyeol holding his hand. But he wasn’t sure if his fantasy was capable of creating that warm and nice feeling. When they reached the white coupé Chanyeol opened the door for Baekhyun and gestured him to get in again.

Baek eyed his stepbrother suspiciously. “What was that just now?”

“Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chanyeol walked to the driver’s side and got in himself, before Baekhyun finally did the same. 

“Don’t fool around with me, Chanyeol!” Baek mumbled, and crossed his arms. He wasn’t having any of that. Chanyeol was too much of a tease, and most of the time Baek wasn’t even sure if Chanyeol did it on purpose or not. But this time there was no doubt about it;

But who could blame Chanyeol, really? Seeing Baekhyun’s annoyed and confused expression, with his lips pursed was pure satisfaction; especially when he knew he was the cause of it.  

“What, aren’t you going to buckle up?”

Baekhyun didn’t hear Chanyeol, or he decided to ignore him; Chanyeol wasn’t sure. But the whole thing really bothered drunk Baekhyun. Yeah, it wasn’t even something close to a kiss, but he still felt Chanyeol’s plush lips against his cheeks. They were so near his own mouth, and he couldn’t shake off the desire to have a taste of his handsome stepbrother. Oh, how he wanted to bite his bottom lip, just hard enough to make them turn red. To explore his mouth with his tongue, to feel his perfectly straight teeth. To let his fingers roam over the tall boy’s body.

Being lost in thoughts he realized too late that Chanyeol was practically hovering over him, but it took him yet another few seconds longer to notice that he was just grabbing the seatbelt for him. At that moment however, Chanyeol’s face was awfully close to his own. And when their eyes met, Chanyeol stopped in his tracks.

It was dark in the car, but Baekhyun didn’t even need to see; his stepbrothers scent was enough to make him go crazy. Not even thinking about anything else but his need to get intoxicated with this drug called Chanyeol, he leaned forward and his lips just slightly grazed the other’s ear. _“I want to kiss you really badly right now.”_ Their cheeks were touching as well.

Chanyeol, who did not even have a drop of alcohol, felt his breath hitch. Baekhyun’s voice was deep, breathy and full of need. He could get used to the sound of it. This and the slight tickling sensation of Baek’s breaths on his neck made him shudder. Chanyeol had to close his eyes for a moment to regain his composure. It didn’t work though. Baekhyun’s mouth ghosted over his jawline and he planted several kisses on the smooth skin, before he reached the corner of Chanyeol’s lips.

Baekhyun leaned back, just enough to look straight into Chanyeol’s eyes, as soon as the taller boy opened them again. Baekhyun was silently asking for permission with anticipation sparkling in his eyes.

Wasn’t it wrong to even consider it? It wasn’t just that Baekhyun was probably drunk enough for two, _but he was his fucking stepbrother_. Why couldn’t Chanyeol stop it already? Why didn’t he just pull back and act like nothing happened?

The soft feeling of those kisses just a second ago, the warmth coming from his body, his not so innocent looking eyes staring directly at him and the way Baekhyun chewed on his lips, waiting for a reaction from Chanyeol.  

 _Did he actually enjoy it_ that _much?_

There was no use in denying it.

Before he could do something stupid though, Baekhyun suddenly nuzzled his forehead into the crook of Chanyeol’s neck. He felt slightly surprised at first, but when he noticed how Baek’s body went limp, Chanyeol realized what was going on. 

_He felt asleep just like that._

A feeling of disappointment washed over him, but at the same time he let out a relieved sigh. That was close. He carefully moved Baekhyun’s head from his shoulder back to the black leather seat. Baekhyun did not make a sound. The alcohol must have knocked him out completely.

Chanyeol wished he could be just as relaxed right now, after he moved back to his own seat. He ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly noticing how stuffy it was in the car. With a tight grip on the wheel he tried to stop freaking out.

_What even was that?_

It’s not like it was Baekhyun’s fault, and he didn’t blame him. Some people get clingy when they’re drunk. Some people like to make out with random people. That’s okay. Baekhyun probably wouldn’t remember it when he was going to wake up anyway.

What Chanyeol really did upset though, was _his very own behavior._ Yeah, he loved to tease Baekhyun whenever he could. It was fun and it wasn’t like he didn’t notice that Baekhyun checked him out quite often. But he didn’t expect that it would affect himself so much.

_God knows what they would have done, if Baekhyun didn’t fall asleep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still hope you enjoy this story. thank you for the comments, kudos and bookmarks! they make me quite happy, to say the least. xoxo ♥


	4. Day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanyeol gets to know Baekhyun a little better.

**Day 3**

There was not a sound heard when Baekhyun opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling for a long time. It took him some minutes to realize why it surprised him so much to be waking up in his own bed in his own room. He didn’t remember going to sleep there. _Right_. He had some driving lessons yesterday. Chanyeol took him to some galbi place. And he may had a bit too much Soju.

Baekhyun clicked his tongue. So when, and more importantly _how_ did he go to bed? Trying to think as logical as possible, Baekhyun concluded that there were two possibilities:

  1. He got so drunk that Chanyeol had to carry him out of the restaurant and after the drive home tucked him in his bed. _And he didn’t remember what he said to Chanyeol._ Or did.
  2. He got so drunk that he simply didn’t remember crawling in bed himself. _And he didn’t remember what he said or did._



In other words, it didn’t matter much; both scenarios led to the same result: Him not being sure if he actually told Chanyeol how handsome he was in Baekhyun’s eyes. And him not knowing if he revealed that he liked men.

Well, worse things could have happened, Baekhyun thought. Telling a friend that he’s handsome was pretty normal. At least not _that_ weird. And Chanyeol was more like a friend than a ( _step_ )brother to Baekhyun. So no harm done.

And even though Baekhyun didn’t exactly like the idea of Chanyeol knowing that he’s gay, it would be alright. Chanyeol didn’t seem like a person who judged others for their personal preferences. But it definitely meant that he would treat Baekhyun differently. He would be super aware of Baekhyun, if he knew that he liked men. Straight guys often have the tendency to do that. To treat gays like women. Or even worse.

Baekhyun decided to stop thinking about it even a second longer. Yeah, maybe he embarrassed himself. But at least he had the excuse of being drunk. And until he didn’t know for certain, what or _if_ he said anything to Chanyeol, he would act like nothing happened.

And taking a nice, hot shower would work best to clear his mind he decided.

He was still in his school uniform, he noticed, except his jacket. He stood up and saw the jacket hanging on his chair, neatly folded in half. That was untypical of him. He would’ve just thrown the jacket on the floor, or wherever it may have landed. Well, most probably he would’ve just slept in it. So more likely than not, Chanyeol really did help him into bed. That was one question answered. And Baekhyun felt a blush crawling up his neck.

Not wanting to think about it any longer, Baekhyun went to the bathroom.

\---

Chanyeol, even though he wasn’t drunk, didn’t feel that great after waking up. He was more sleepy than before going to bed. 

First there was this awkward drive home. Chanyeol helped his half-sleeping stepbrother into his bed, which wasn’t as easy as it could have been; sleeping Baekhyun tried to cling onto Chanyeol even after dropping him on his bed, and Chanyeol felt almost dizzy from the closeness. It was difficult to shake him off, without waking him up. But he managed it somehow. 

Chanyeol’s mind was still on fire though, that’s why he decided to take a shower. Even the cool water did not help him dismiss any of his inappropriate thoughts, unfortunately. So he still wasn't feeling like sleeping afterwards. Why was he so worked up though? He decided to distract himself with some music. It really did help him with not thinking too much about Baek’s actions. Or his words. Or his scent. Or his lips. _Shit_. 

When he finally decided to take a rest, the sun was up again and the birds were singing already. It would’ve been time to go to school, not like Chanyeol even spent a thought about going there. Instead he tried to count sheep.

It took him about 452 sheep to fall asleep, but at least his mind was somewhat calm again. He decided to treat his brother as if nothing happened. Not that anything really did happen. (Maybe it did in Chanyeol’s head, but that didn’t count). That’s right. He would simply continue to tease his stepbrother as much as he had in the past, because why not? It was fun, and yesterday was yesterday, and it just (almost) happened because Baekhyun was drunk.

So when he eventually woke up, only a few hours later, he decided to check up on his brother. He’d probably be super hungover, and maybe he should bring him some painkillers and water. It might would be a bit awkward at first, to act like nothing happened, but the faster he got used to Baekhyun again, the better.

At the very moment, when he opened the door, Baekhyun was coming out of the bathroom, as well, which was just opposite Chanyeol’s room.

A bright red towel hung dangerously low around Baekhyun’s waist while he ruffled his long fingers through his dripping wet hair, making small droplets of water run over his shoulders and chest.

Baekhyun gave him a tired smile, “Morning”

Chanyeol’s eyes opened wide, as if he was caught doing something he shouldn’t, when his gaze wandered up to meet his stepbrother’s. “Ah, yeah, morning.”

“You’re home? I thought you’d be in school” Baekhyun mumbled, still sleepy. Was he just imagining it, or was Chanyeol checking him out? Nah, Chanyeol was straight. He was probably just surprised. Just like Baekhyun.

Chanyeol seemed to have found his composure again, as he laughed, “Sure, you stay at home, and I have to go to school?”

“It’s not like I’m complaining about it.” Baekhyun grinned.

Chanyeol nodded, a half smile on his own lips now. He leaned on the door frame. “You’re feeling alright?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t really experience hangovers. I’m just super tired, but that’s it.”

“Lucky you.” Chanyeol nodded slowly. Did Baekhyun remember anything? If so, he didn’t mention it in the slightest. Maybe he had the same idea as Chanyeol himself, and just acted like it never did.

“Yeah, lucky me… But today I’m not only tired, I’m really hungry.” Baekhyun’s palm went to his belly, and he rubbed it a moment. “Seriously now, I’m starving.”

Chanyeol tried not to look anywhere other than Baekhyun’s face. “I’d say I make you a nice breakfast, but I don’t think you’d like that.”

Baekhyun sighed. He had a gleam of hope that Chanyeol actually could cook, and that maybe he would make something nice to eat. Bad luck.

“We share the same _talent_ , I guess.” Baekhyun then shrugged and since Chanyeol apparently had nothing more to say he turned to the side to walk to his room, leaving wet footprints on the floor.

“I mean, it’s almost lunch anyway, so why don’t we go somewhere? Since I decided yesterday where to go, I’ll let you choose today.”

Baekhyun looked at him with wide eyes, “Yeah, sure! Just let me get ready.”

A smile spread on Baekhyun’s lips before Chanyeol nodded.

\---

Chanyeol was the one driving today, and Baekhyun was glad about that. “I heard there opened a new Japanese restaurant atthe mall near here. The food must be great.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol smiled. Skipping school, having lunch together, going to the mall. That was just what friends did. That’s what they were. Nothing more, nothing less.

“I hope you like Japanese food. But I really crave it right now.” Baekhyun snuggled back into the black leather seat and his eyes lazily watched Chanyeol as he was driving.

“I still don’t understand how it’s possible for you to feel so great. When I pass out from drinking, I can’t even take a sip of water without throwing it up a minute later.”

Maybe that was the right time to find out what exactly happened, Baekhyun thought.  “I really passed out yesterday? At the restaurant?”

Chanyeol gave him a side glance. So he didn’t remember? Or was he playing dumb? Chanyeol still remembered Baekhyun’s breathe on his ears, his soft kisses on his jaw. The look in Baekhyun’s eyes. He gulped, then licked his suddenly dry lips in a nervous manner before he opened his mouth. But before a word could leave his throat, Baekhyun’s phone rang.

Baekhyun sighed when he looked at the caller's ID. He really wanted to hear Chanyeol’s answer.

“Your mom?” Chanyeol asked.

“I wish”, Baekhyun said, but picked up nevertheless.

As soon as he put the phone to his ear, an angry voice shouted: _“Bitch! Who do you think you are, leaving me alone with those fucking idiots in school?!”_

“Please don’t be so annoyingly loud, Sehun. Calm down.” Baekhyun groaned and rubbed his ear. “I’m not feeling well, okay? What are you talking about anyway?”

 _“You’re not here and I have to walk around like a creepy loser with no friends because of you?”_ Sehun said annoyed. “And _I should calm down_?? You left me alone with my parents yesterday already. _Aren’t you too cruel to call yourself my friend?”_

“Yah! I’m sorry! I didn’t plan to-“ Baekhyun wasn’t sure if he should tell Sehun or not. But better just tell him the truth, right? “I was drinking yesterday, and I just woke up, okay?”

Sehun laughed sarcastically, “Seems like you had fun in your important study session yesterday.”

“Well, I guess.” Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol, who tried hard to not look too interested in the conversation. _Sehun? Who was that guy?_

 _“So can I come over today?”_ Sehun asked after a while. _“Don’t even think about saying no. I’ll still come.”_  

“Uhm…,” Baekhyun coughed awkwardly, still looking at Chanyeol. Spending some more time alone with him would have been nice. But Sehun was his friend for the longest time now, and he couldn’t let him down again. “Yeah, sure.”

_“How nice of you." Sehun muttered, "Well. Later then.”_

“I’m always nice. Bye.” Baekhyun groaned when he ended the call.

“I hope you don’t mind if some idiot sleeps over today?” Baekhyun’s voice sounded unsure.  

Chanyeol shook his head. “Not at all.”

So was this Sehun Baekhyun’s boyfriend? They sure did talk like they knew each other good enough. But it was none of Chanyeol’s business anyway. _(But maybe he should tell Baekhyun to stop drinking if he wanted to keep that boyfriend.)_  

Baekhyun just sighed again. He turned up the volume of the music, and closed his eyes. Baekhyun hasn’t forgotten about the question he asked before the phone call, but he didn’t want to bring it up again. It was too embarrassing.

When they finally reached the mall, they walked by a music store on their way to the new restaurant. There were a lot of different guitars on the display, from classical ones, to western guitars, electric ones. Everything the heart of a guitarist desired. Baekhyun looked at them in awe. Chanyeol stopped too and his eyes wandered over a certain LP model, in the color sunburst. “That’s the one I have.” Chanyeol smiled, showing his pearly teeth.

“I know.” Baekhyun smiled too. “I’m pretty envious of you. I always wanted to learn how to play.” He then just turned and they walked to the restaurant.

What Baekhyun heard about the restaurant was right. It was pretty neat. They went for a more modern concept, but they still put some traditional Japanese elements in the decoration. The place was really bright, thanks to the huge windows and the soft lighting. Soft music played in the background. It helped to make you feel comfortable, without being too loud or catchy. The two of them took a place near one of the large windows. It was raining outside, but Baekhyun liked that because it made him feel calm and relaxed all the more.

They chose a few different dishes which they shared to taste as much as possible. The food was good, and neither of them regretted Baekhyun’s choice.

“I can teach you a bit, if you’d like.” Chanyeol started after some chitchatting about random things. “You have some special talent for music, it won’t be difficult for you. Just learn a few basics like chords and reading music-”

Baekhyun laughed quietly, “I can read music. I actually can play the piano, too.”

“Seriously?” Chanyeol seemed more than surprised, “Can you… just play stuff like Twinkle, Twinkle little Star? That doesn’t count.”

Baekhyun pointed his chopsticks at Chanyeol, a grin still plastered on his face. “Do you want to offend me?”

“You don’t even have a piano at home?” Chanyeol fake gasped, “Or do you play on mine when I’m not home?”

“You’re an idiot!” Baekhyun laughed again. Chanyeol’s lips curled some more too. “But no, we had a grand piano at home.” Baek clicked his tongue, “Well, _home_ before we moved to live at your place.”

“Seriously?” Chanyeol eyes went wide at the thought of such an impressive instrument. “Why didn’t you take it with you? My dad likes stuff like that anyway. At least it’s pretty to look at, he’d say. He wouldn’t have minded to make some room for it.”

“My mom didn’t care much about it.” Baekhyun shrugged, and focused on eating again.

“But _you_ did,” Chanyeol protested. “She should have at least bought you some electric piano or something, if she had to leave it behind already.”

“Well… she didn’t know that I played.” Baekhyun answered.

“How can she not-“ Chanyeol stopped himself from continuing. “It’s the same reason, right?”  he asked instead.

He looked how Baekhyun stopped chewing for a moment. He looked at Chanyeol and asked with a full mouth. “What?”

“You not singing in front of others.” Chanyeol began. “How can your mom forbid you to make music?”

“It’s not like I wasn’t allowed to. Don’t make up things like that.” Baekhyun laughed. “She just doesn’t know that I like music. That’s all. I never played piano or sang when she was around.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know.” Baekhyun said after thinking about it. “She wasn’t much at home anyway. She worked many night shifts. Practically left the house when I came home from school.”

Chanyeol nodded, but that lead to another question “So why did you even have that grand piano in the first place?”

“It belonged my father.” Baekhyun said. “Me playing the piano will stay a secret between us, right?”

That was the first time that Chanyeol heard the words _‘my father’_ from Baekhyun.  

“Sure.” Was all that Chanyeol said, before Baekhyun started to talk about some nonchalant things again. Like how he wasn’t sure if he liked that it was getting colder again, because he had a kind of love/hate relationship with winter. How his favorite things in winter was the sweet and spicy smells and food at that time of the year. But that he really hated to feel cold.

Chanyeol listened to all of it; he nodded and asked some things here and there. He talked about himself. But the thing with Baekhyun’s father never left his mind completely. Baekhyun’s eyes when he mentioned him were cold and no trace of affection was seen. Chanyeol wanted to know more about him, but he knew he would overstep some invisible boundary if he did ask.

\---

When Chanyeol was parking the car in the driveway of their home, Baekhyun suddenly just got out of the car, before Chanyeol even stopped the motor. Chanyeol couldn’t ask about what it was, because Baekhyun was already at the door. He was then noticing that guy there. He had blonde hair and wore the same school uniform as Baek’s. _So this had to be Sehun, huh?_

“Oh my god, why are sitting on the doorstep? It’s raining for God’s sake!” Baek quickly helped Sehun up, and Chanyeol noticed that Sehun was a lot taller than his stepbrother too. (Which wasn’t that unusual, for guys being taller than Baek, really) But he was still shorter than Chanyeol at least.

“I was waiting at least an hour.” Sehun complained, and tried to warm himself up, by rubbing his palms over his upper arms. “I couldn’t call because my phone died.”

“Why didn’t you just come over _after_ school?” Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “As I thought you would do?”

“Well, and _I_ thought you’d be home anyway!” he said, and just then his eyes flickered over Baekhyun’s shoulder to Chanyeol, who walked towards them. “Oh my god, who’s that?” Sehun whispered excitedly.

Baekhyun turned and looked at Chanyeol, then back to Sehun. Chanyeol greeted the boy with his typical smile. “Hi, I’m Park Chanyeol, Baekhyun’s stepbrother.”

“ _Chanyeol_?” Sehun looked even more surprised now. “You’re his…” Then a knowing grin spread on his lips. “… _stepbrother_.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Sehun, can’t you at least introduce yourself?” He unlocked the door, and they all walked in. “He’s my stupid friend Oh Sehun, the one who sleeps over.”

Chanyeol nodded slowly. His friend? Was that true? Not that he really cared, though. No. “I guessed so.” Chanyeol just said. “Well, nice to meet you”

“I was going to, if you wouldn’t fucking interrupt me all the time.” Sehun then turned to Chanyeol and smiled at him, as he cocked his head to the side. “Nice to meet you too.” Indeed it was a pleasure to meet Chanyeol. Sehun didn’t think he would find out about him so fast, but at least he was able to understand Baekhyun now. Why he preferred hanging out with this guy more than spending time with him. Sehun knew that Chanyeol was exactly Baekhyun’s style. Tall, innocent looking, puppy eyes. That guy was just _disgustingly_ cute.

Chanyeol noticed that smug grin on Sehun’s face, but wasn’t sure why it was there. That’s why he excused himself and went to his room leaving the two of them alone. Baekhyun dragged Sehun to his room, and since Sehun was freezing because he was all wet from the rain, Baek gave him some of his clothes (even though they were pretty tight on Sehun). Sehun changed and after he put the shirt over his head, Baekhyun finally gave in and sighed. “Okay, say it. You obviously want to say something since before.”

“Since I’ve seen Chanyeol, to be precise.”

Baekhyun raised a brow. “Yeah?” He asked a bit unsure about the meaning of his words. “And what would that be?”

“He’s cute.” Sehun said. Baekhyun’s face went blank, and he didn’t have any words at first.

Sehun laughed, “Don’t worry, he’s all yours.”

Baekhyun licked his lips, then he sat down on the chair. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Aww, Baekhyunnie~” Sehun lazily slumped down on Baekhyun’s bed. “Don’t play dumb. You were drinking with him yesterday. You even went out for lunch today. _I know you.”_

“What of it? I’m having lunch with you every day.” Baekhyun said, as a matter of fact. They did at school. 

“Yeah, but you don’t get all excited when you get a text from me.” Sehun stated.

“Don’t be so childish. When did I act like that?” Baekhyun bashfully asked.

An amused sigh left Sehun’s mouth. “Just the way you reacted when I said he was cute just now.”

“Don’t be a dick, Sehun.” Baekhyun whined, “He’s my stepbrother.”

“So?” Sehun shrugged, “That means you two aren’t blood-related at all. And even if you were…” he trailed off.

Baekhyun kicked his shin. This time he was really annoyed. Yeah, okay, maybe he liked spending time with Chanyeol. But did that mean it was in a romantic way? Just because Baekhyun liked to have Sehun around didn't mean that he was crushing on Sehun either.

And yeah, maybe Baekhyun was attracted to Chanyeol’s appearance, but that's that. Nothing more. “You’re disgusting, you know that?” Baekhyun finally said. “But whatever, I don’t like Chanyeol that way. He’s cute yeah. And I like him. He’s fun. We have some things in common. _But I don’t like like him_.”

“Alright.” Sehun laughed, and rubbed his hurting leg. “But let’s be honest. If, and I say _if_ , you come to _like_ Chanyeol, would you go for it? Or wouldn’t you even try, just because he’s your stepbrother?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I don’t answer dumb questions.”

And that was answer enough for Sehun.

\---

Chanyeol was up later than he intended. Again. But night was the time of the day where all his creativity kicked in. Time seemed to flow much faster then, especially when he worked on a new song.

And even if he was exhausted, feeling like he can’t keep his eyes open even another second, he just had to push himself that little more to stay awake just a bit longer and when he crossed that certain point, the fatigue transformed into energy that kept him running all night.

He liked to think that nighttime was his own personal drug, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

But he still needed a break from the song. When he opened the door of his room he heard soft snoring coming from Baek’s room. They seemed to be fast asleep. Chanyeol still wasn’t sure about Baek’s relationship with that Sehun guy.

Baekhyun probably didn’t want Chanyeol to know that he was gay, he supposed. At least Baek never mentioned anything about it. Well, it would be kinda awkward to just randomly say _“Hey, I’m gay, just so you know.”_ But Chanyeol was pretty sure that Baek’s mom didn’t know about it either. Chanyeol however already sensed it as soon as Baekhyun first looked at him. _(More like stare at him.)_

Chanyeol was certain of it at least since watching Baekhyun turning red or speechless whenever Chanyeol decided to tease him. That made it clear to him.

Not that it was any of Chanyeol’s business.

As soon as he walked down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible, he picked up some soft music coming from the living room. Entering the room, he saw Baekhyun sitting cross legged on the couch. The only light source was the TV and that wasn’t much. Baekhyun’s whole attention was focused on the TV, with a strange expression on his face. Chanyeol has never seen Baekhyun’s face so serious before.

“You like jazz?” Chanyeol asked, a smile in his voice.  

“Oh my God!” Baekhyun jerked and put his hands on his chest, “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Chanyeol apologized. He then saw the bottled water in Baekhyun’s lap, and he grabbed it as he walked by and sat down beside the shorter boy. Chanyeol opened the bottle and took a few gulps. Baek didn’t say anything about it, but he watched him for a few seconds, before his attention went back to the screen.

Baekhyun felt Chanyeol’s gaze on him, but still took his time answering Chanyeol’s question. “I don’t really like it. _Jazz I mean_.”

Chanyeol raised a brow. “Why do you watch that old video then?” The quality of the video was pretty poor, but maybe it added some charm to the jazz, making it feel a bit nostalgic.

Baekhyun licked his lips, he seemed nervous all of a sudden. Because no, Baekhyun wasn’t able to leave the VHS cassette in the trashcan, when he found it someday. He knew why his mother threw it out. It hurt her to watch that man looking so happy, doing what he loved, which was music. And it hurt Baekhyun too. But part of him always felt curious about that father of him too. He hated that he felt like that, but sometimes he still found himself watching that stupid jazz performance of his father. And today was one of those days, since he was on his mind ever since he talked with Chanyeol during lunch. “It’s my father.”

Chanyeol’s mouth opened involuntary, as he quickly fastened his gaze on the TV.

“The one who’s singing.” Baekhyun mentioned.  

‘Dream a little Dream of Me’ started playing. Baekhyun scoffed, but it sounded like he had a hard time holding back his tears. “That asshole probably fucked the woman who’s singing with him too.”

 _Then it clicked._ Chanyeol suddenly felt like he figured Baekhyun out. Well, at least why he didn’t want to do music for others to hear. Especially why he kept his talent from his mother. Why he didn’t like to talk about his dad.

Chanyeol didn’t say a word. But he moved a bit closer to Baekhyun and patted his knee in a manner that was saying: _It’s okay, I’m here. I won’t leave you alone now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! thank you for still reading my little story, it means a lot to me!  
> thanks for leaving kudos too! bookmarks and subscriptions make my heart flutter ♥


	5. Day 4

**Day 4**

When Chanyeol woke up, he was still as tired as if he hadn’t closed his eyes at all. His shoulders were aching, as well as his neck. Well, actually all the muscles of his upper body were stiff. He figured out why a second later: he slept in a sitting position on the couch. Not only that, but Baekhyun was there too. The smaller rested his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder, and at some point in the middle of the night, Chanyeol must have wrapped his arm around his sleeping figure. And now this arm felt slightly numb too.

Despite it being a very uncomfortable position to sleep in for a few hours straight, it wasn’t necessarily displeasing. Baekhyun’s silent breathes were warm against his side, and he couldn’t bring himself to wake his stepbrother up. That’s why he stayed like that some time longer. He thought about the evening before, when he found Baekhyun sitting all alone on the couch. He felt sorry for him. Chanyeol had never seen him in such a vulnerable state before.

 _He_ was the one who made Baek talk about his dad during lunch. Of course it wasn’t his fault that Baek’s father was an asshole, but it still made him feel bad that Baekhyun was like that.

On top of it, it made him realize that he didn’t know Baekhyun at all.

So Chanyeol was a bit happy too. It was the first time that Baekhyun trusted him enough to show him his weak side.  Sure, he hasn’t told him much about it whatsoever, but he dropped sufficient hints to give Chanyeol a basic idea of what kind of person his father was. It made him realize, just how considerate Baekhyun actually was. The thing of hiding his passion for music was surely because he didn’t want his mom to remember her old lover. He always acted like a happy-go-lucky person, even though his personality was a lot more delicate.

Maybe Chanyeol was a bit dense and most of the time he was not able to empathize with others, but Baekhyun was a person that was much too easy to read for him. Still, he hid that pain in him pretty well all this time. Chanyeol would have never guessed that Baekhyun cared after all about not having a father, if he hadn't watched that old recording of him the night before. 

If Chanyeol was able to make that pain go away, or at least ease it, he would. That was what he decided after looking at Baekhyun’s calm face that morning. 

The tall boy was suddenly interrupted in his thoughts, when loud steps came closer. Right. They had a guest over. Chanyeol almost forgot about Sehun.

Blond hair was lazily hiding the boys forehead, when he entered the living room. He looked at the two stepbrothers on the couch with a slight confused expression before he yawned. “Good morning there.” He said then.

Chanyeol still didn’t know if that guy was Baekhyun’s boyfriend or not, but his reaction to Baekhyun sleeping all cuddled up to Chanyeol was not like that of a jealous boyfriend. So probably they really were just friends after all. The tall boy greeted him with a low “Morning” as well after making that realization. 

Sehun laughed quietly, “Now I know why his snores didn’t wake me up tonight.”

Chanyeol seemed a bit flustered at first, but he didn’t let it show on his face. “We… watched some movies and ended up falling asleep.” He added an awkward laugh, to which Sehun suspiciously raised a brow.

Did Sehun actually know about Baekhyun’s dad? Better not mention anything about it, maybe Baekhyun really tried to keep it a secret. 

“Okay,” Sehun said nonchalantly. Not that he cared _why_ they slept like that. That was something he could mock Baekhyun with no matter what the reason was.

The blond wanted to go back upstairs to get ready for school, when he noticed Baekhyun slowly blinking. That guy must have woken up, but he didn’t move at all. He gave Sehun a surprised look though. The younger smirked, before he quickly turned his attention back to Chanyeol. Before he too found out that Baekhyun was awake, Sehun started to talk. “So…Do you know?”

Chanyeol frowned, “…what?”

“You know,” Sehun continued, but made a short pause in between his words. “That Baekhyun... likes guys?” Sehun thought that Chanyeol had all rights to know it, especially when they slept all cuddled up like that. Baekhyun hadn’t told his stepbrother about it yet, Sehun knew it, because the smaller one widened his eyes in shock, when Sehun finished talking.

Much to their surprise, Chanyeol chuckled. “What of it?”

Sehun soon recovered from his surprise, then grinned. He watched Baekhyun, as he desperately tried to shut his eyes and act as if he’d still be sleeping.

“Nothing,” Sehun answered. “I just thought you should know. But it seems like you already did.” He then walked up to the couch and slightly punched Baekhyun’s arm, “Yah, wake up! We’re running late for school.”

Baekhyun mustered up all his acting skills, when he slowly moved himself away from Chanyeol, then he rubbed his eyes. He had to look like he just woke up.

“Why’re you so annoying?” Baekhyun mumbled and blinked at his blond friend. He turned his head to look at Chanyeol for a second, which was a mistake. A blush was creeping up Baekhyun's neck, so he just let out a quick "Morning". It was more a croak than anything else, but Baekhyun didn't care. Before he could move away from the handsome black haired boy though, Chanyeol grabbed his wrist.

Baekhyun kept still abruptly.

The warmth was now spreading up to his face. It must have been completely red by then, and that smug look on Sehun's face confirmed that. All Baekhyun wanted to do then, was dragging Sehun up to his room and calm down. Or at least to get away from the georgous, tall stepbrother. 

“You’re still up for some guitar lessons today after school?” Chanyeol asked then, some awkward seconds had already passed. 

Baekhyun had to leave the room, because he absolutely didn’t want Chanyeol to see his embarrassed face. That’s why he mumbled the first thing that came to his mind. “Sure.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol agreed, with a smile in his voice. “Great.” He let go of Baekhyun’s hand and the flustered boy was already out of the room a moment later. Chanyeol was totally aware of Baekhyun’s shyness, and he enjoyed every bit of it. It was pure enjoyment for him to have such an effect on someone. 

Sehun sighed. “Don’t toy around with him too much. _Please_. I'm the one who has to deal with him all day long.”  

Chanyeol only grinned when Sehun was following Baekhyun after that.

\---

_Literature class._

As always, the two boys didn’t feel the need to pay attention to whatever the teacher was saying. Instead, Baekhyun slumped down and hid his face with his palms. A desperate sigh followed. “I hate you. I fucking hate you, Sehun.”  

“Why?” The blond grinned, acting dumb. “What did I do? Just because I’ve had a nice chat with your _beloved_ little stepbrother?”

Baekhyun groaned. “Don’t call him like that.”

“Call him your stepbrother or what? Don’t you like it? I think it’s kinda nice, having the man of your wet dreams always at hand. _Literally_.”

“Ugh.” Baekhyun closed his eyes. “Sometimes I really want to slap your pretty face just to make you stop talking.” Sehun was used to those words, Baekhyun always talked like that in a playful way. But this time it sounded untypically sincere.  

“Yah, what’s up with you, Baekhyunnie?” Sehun asked, slight concern in his voice. He didn’t intend to make his friend upset. “I’m just teasing you a bit.”  

“I have to live with him in the same house! And you just tell him that I’m gay?”Baekhyun started and ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t even brushed it in the morning, because he just wanted to leave the house as fast as possible.

“I told him because you should’ve told him about it much sooner yourself.” Sehun explained himself. “And he knew it anyway!”

“That’s what’s bothering me even more! That guy confuses me to no end.”

Sehun shook his head, “If you continue to be like that I’m going to think that you like him for real. As more than just a friend. _Or a brother._ ”

Baekhyun exhaled deeply. He didn’t say anything for a long time, before he clicked his tongue. “You’ve asked me what I’d to if I start to like him, right?”

“You didn’t answer me though.” Sehun said.

“I can’t start to like him for real. You know, if a relationship doesn’t work out you just try to move on without that person. Most of the time you avoid that person at least for some time. But in my case, he’s my fucking stepbrother. I wouldn't be able to just ignore him if things don’t work out.”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “You’re a pessimist as always. Can't you assume that you won't break up?”

“I’m just a realist. Also,” Baekhyun started, “Chanyeol’s not into guys. So there’s not even a reason to think about it.”

“You like to lie to yourself, huh?” the blond concluded. "You haven't seen the way he looked at you this morning." 

Baekhyun nodded. “It’s the only thing I can do. If I refuse to believe something, I _have to_ lie to myself.  So don’t make this harder for me than it already is.”

Sehun raised a brow. “Well, I guess you’re right.”

“Good. So let’s not talk about Chanyeol for now, okay?” Baekhyun said then, with a small smile on his lips.

“Alright.” Sehun gave in. “Sorry, Baek.” He didn’t like that serious Baekhyun. And maybe this was more serious than he thought.

“It’s okay.” Baekhyun said.

\---

Baekhyun was the first one to come home after school. He was glad, because he still felt embarrassed. Just thinking about Chanyeol made his face go slightly pink.

But the thing that bothered him wasn’t really about Chanyeol knowing about his sexuality. No.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure why, but he was thinking about his father much more the past few weeks. And it always made him feel weak and depressed. He resented his father so much for leaving them that long ago. That was nothing new though.

But now, that Baekhyun became older, the feelings of hate became greater and greater. There was no longer just hate towards his father, but self-hatred started to nag him. He despised how he started to look just like that monster. He despised that he loved music so much, because he wanted to hate it just as much as he hated his father. Because music was his father’s first and only love.

And the night before, when he watched that recording of his father again, he felt worse than ever.

And that was the moment, Chanyeol entered the living room.

Baekhyun was glad when the tall boy sat down beside him. He felt safe when Chanyeol’s slow breathing was something to distract his ears from hearing his father's voice. Baekhyun was able to relax in Chanyeol’s presence, and it was enough to lull him to something close to sleep. Baekhyun closed his eyes, and without a second thought he rested his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder. He didn’t want to watch his father anymore, he just wanted to concentrate on the being called Chanyeol. Because he stopped him thinking about all the things he hated. 

The tall boy didn’t seem to mind him at all. He just moved a bit, to reach for the remote to turn off the TV, but he was careful to not disturb Baekhyun. The smaller boy was still awake though, he even heard Chanyeol’s quiet voice loud and clear, when he said “Why do you always fall asleep on me? Am I that comfortable?”

Baekhyun was pondering about what that ‘ _always_ ’ was supposed to mean, when Chanyeol moved his arm around Baekhyun to make himself more comfortable. And at that time, when Baekhyun practically rested his head on Chanyeol’s chest, the faint scent of Chanyeol reached his nose. And that was when he remembered.

Sitting in the dark car of his stepfather. Chanyeol’s face so near, he just had to lean forward an inch to kiss his fine jaw line. Chanyeol’s scent that was just the same as now. And then Chanyeol’s stare was the last thing he was able to remember from that evening. 

Chanyeol didn’t push him away the day before in the car. And Chanyeol didn’t push him away then, when he was cuddled up to him on the couch.

Baekhyun was still awake when Chanyeol had already fallen asleep, when Baekhyun still struggled to calm down his heart and mind.

But the closeness was so nice, and warm, he soon fell asleep too.

 

_Baekhyun really got one annoying stepbrother._

When the small boy had just changed from his school uniform into more comfortable clothes, he heard the door open already.

“Baek?” Chanyeol asked loudly. There was something like concern in his voice however, which made Baekhyun quickly run down the stairs. Chanyeol was already waiting for him to come down.  

“Hey,” Baekhyun tried hard to act normal. Chanyeol was not smiling for once and that made him a bit worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Have you talked to your mom since they’ve gone?” Chanyeol asked out of the blue.

Baekhyun thought about it, “Well, she’s phoned me when they were still at the airport. She was annoyingly excited when she finally found out where your dad was taking her. But since then…” Baekhyun shook his head.

“Same here.” Chanyeol said. “I haven’t thought much about it, I just thought they were enjoying their vacation. But on my way home I thought I’d call my dad and check on him. He didn’t pick up.”

Baekhyun was now standing in front of Chanyeol, and he noticed the tall boy’s concerned frown. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m sure they’re just having the time of their life right now. They just totally forgot about us.”

“It’s just-“ Chanyeol started. “I don’t know.”

All of a sudden, a smile spread on Baekhyun’s lips. Chanyeol looked at him with his questioning puppy eyes, when Baekhyun spoke. “There’s a time difference. They’re probably sleeping right now. My mom mentioned something about it. It’s about 6 or 7 hours, I can’t remember. But that means it’s in the middle of the night there.”

Chanyeol finally smiled too, “Right, I haven’t thought about that.”

“Yeah, so don’t worry about them,” Baekhyun said and patted Chanyeol on the shoulder. He was standing on the last step, which made him about the same height as Chanyeol.  “Your dad will call back as soon as he wakes up. And if he doesn’t I’m gonna try call my mom.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Chanyeol nodded, “And sorry for overreacting.”

Baekhyun shook his head. Chanyeol had all reasons to be worried about his dad. He had his mother taken away from him much too soon, and if something would happen to his father now too... He gave Chanyeol a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder and then his caring smile turned into a grin. “So what about my guitar lessons? You’re still up for that?” He wanted to distract the taller one, in order to keep that stupid smile on his face.

_No time to be embarrassed about some stupid things right now._

“Sure” Chanyeol beamed.

\---

“You’ve really written that song by yourself?”

Chanyeol laughed slightly, “It’s not finished, but I thought I’d let you hear it, since you’re going to be my vocalist.” He rested his chin on his guitar and watched Baekhyun, who seemed overly excited about the song.

“It’s really good, I can’t wait to hear the finished version. But.” Baekhyun raised a brow. “You haven’t even heard me singing that much. I just fooled around last time. How can you be sure that I manage those high ass notes you’ve dropped here and there?”

“Well, I just know by my musician’s intuition?” Chanyeol laughed, and Baekhyun rolled his eyes, but he smiled too. “And the song’s not about showing some insane vocal skills, anyway. It’s more about conveying a certain feeling…?” Chanyeol explained.

“And you think I can do that?” Baekhyun cocked his head to the side.

“Definitely.”

“Okay, but now let’s get to the fun part. Teach me!” Baekhyun said and stretched out his hands. Chanyeol smiled, then handed him over his precious instrument.

“I know some simple chords from watching, I think…” Baekhyun smiled, because the first harmony seemed to be correct, and the second sounded not half bad too.  

“Wow, you’ve got some talent there,” the taller one laughed, before he picked up his other guitar, on which he showed Baekhyun some more chords. Baekhyun was able to memorize them pretty quickly, but the problem was, he didn’t exactly know what to do with his right hand.

“Why can’t I do that right? It sounds awful.” Baekhyun whined. “How do you do it correctly?”

“There isn’t one right way to play it,” Chanyeol explained, “But for starters, let’s go with some simple up down up strumming. It’s easy, believe me.” Chanyeol smiled, when Baekhyun gave him a doubtful look.

“I’m not sure if I can do that, Chanyeol.”  Baekhyun watched Chanyeol as he demonstrated it. He wanted to copy him, but failed completely. His right hand wasn’t able to move that smoothly as Chanyeol’s.

“First of all,” Chanyeol stood up and put his guitar away, to sit beside Baekhyun on the bed. He then grabbed Baekhyun’s right wrist and shook it a bit. “Don’t be so stiff. Shaking your wrist a bit helps. Think of it as a warm-up before exercise.” He started to knead and massage his wrist a bit, and placed it on the instrument again. He helped Baekhyun find a comfortable spot to rest his elbow on, but that still made it possible to move the hand freely.

And god. Chanyeol was so, so close, and even though he seemed to just concentrate on the instrument, Baekhyun was pretty aware of it. And his thoughts wandered back to the time in the car.

Chanyeol however knew exactly what he was doing to Baekhyun. As soon as he noticed Baekhyun’s breath fasten, he couldn’t stop himself from teasing him even more. He wrapped his slender fingers around Baekhyun’s hand once again and started to move it in an simple up down up pattern. “It’s not that hard, right?” Chanyeol said, his voice low and a grin clearly audible. “Now try to switch chords.”

Baekhyun did as he was told and Chanyeol rested his unused hand on Baekhyun’s back. “Just like that, good.” Baekhyun blushed at those words.

Concentrating on anything but Chanyeol was difficult, but he managed to speak. “I… I think I know how to do it now.”

“You sure?” Chanyeol asked, and when Baekhyun nodded again, Chanyeol smiled and put his hands away, but he was not moving an inch away. “Show me.”

Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun tried it on his own. “You’re a quick learner, Baek.” he said proudly.

The shorter boy looked up from the strings and met Chanyeol’s eyes. His hands stopped moving completely, because as soon as Chanyeol’s eyes flickered to Baek’s lips, his mind went blank.

Baekhyun’s gaze wandered down unknowingly too. Those lips were plush and pink and just asked for a kiss. He noticed that provoking look Chanyeol gave him, as soon as he locked eyes with him again. The tall boy’s expression got more serious than before, but the playfulness still stayed.

Baekhyun might started to like that expression even more than Chanyeol’s charming half-smile.

Chanyeol himself watched his stepbrother intensely as well. Baekhyun’s fluffy brown hair was still a mess, but a cute one. He wanted to touch it, make sure if it really was as soft as it looked like. But what Baekhyun did then, made him go crazy. Baekhyun opened his mouth, so his pink tongue was able to lick over his bottom lip. A thing that Baekhyun always did when he felt nervous, Chanyeol came to know.  

Chanyeol begun to lean in. Slowly, almost unnoticeable.

And Baekhyun wanted to ask Chanyeol. Ask him what this all was about. The teasing was okay at first, but since Chanyeol _knew_ that Baekhyun liked men, wasn’t he just asking for some kind of response? And now this? Was this just part of his teasing as well? Because it absolutely didn’t feel like it. On second thought though, Chanyeol’s himself was one big tease.

This was going too far. Baekhyun knew it. But that didn’t stop him from awaiting the hot touch of their lips eagerly.  

Then the ringing of Chanyeol’s phone interrupted them.  

Baekhyun sighed, and Chanyeol seemed not too happy about the call either. Stopping midway made them both feel a bit awkward, to the point where Chanyeol just considered to ignore his phone, but then he remembered, that it could be his father. And it was. “Dad, hey.”

Baekhyun watched him throughout the call, since he was still sitting that close to him. When Chanyeol hung up, Chanyeol’s frown deepened.

“They’re fighting.” Chanyeol said. “And it doesn’t sound like a simple lover’s quarrel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I want to thank you for reading! I'm sorry for the long wait, but work keeps me busy these days. I hope I'll have more time for writing to upload the next chapter during the week, but I can't promise! ♥


	6. Day 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's have fun and to all the things we can't do when they're back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you'll like this chapter! I was really happy when I noticed how many Kudos this story already has. It makes me enjoy writing this even more! Thank you all so much!

**Day 5**

 

Baekhyun’s gaze wandered to the clock on the opposite wall. It was shortly after midnight.

The silence of the room was only disrupted by the ticking sound, which was getting louder with every second. _Tik. Tok._ None spoke a word, but Baekhyun’s thoughts were overflowing.

Why did they fight? Was it something serious? His mom was supposed to have an unforgettable honeymoon. _But not unforgettable in that kind of way._

When Chanyeol got up from the bed to take away the guitar in his hands, Baekhyun still looked at the clock.

“Baek.” Chanyeol put his palms on Baekhyun’s shoulders, which finally made him meet his eyes. “You know what? We shouldn’t care about their problems.”

“They’re our parents, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun turned his head down again. 

“Yeah, and they are old enough to take care of themselves on their own.” Chanyeol smiled gently. “Let us have fun as long as they’re still away. We should do things we can’t do when they’re back!”

Baekhyun wasn't exactly convinced at first. “Like skipping classes and drinking on school nights? We did that already.” After a short moment he added, “Well _I_ did.”

“Baek... let’s just go out and... I don’t know, let’s try being spontaneous.”

“What?” Baekhyun’s eyes widened a bit, “Right now?”

Chanyeol let out a laugh as an answer, grabbed Baekhyun’s wrist and dragged him out of the room and down the stairs. On their way out, he quickly grabbed both their jackets, as well as the key of his dad’s car. 

Baekhyun was confused, very much so, but he didn’t try to pull away from Chanyeol. He followed him, he hopped into the car, and he was at least glad that Chanyeol was the one driving this time.

As soon as Chanyeol started the motor, he turned on the heater, and backed out of the driveway a second later. A mischievous grin on his face, he turned to look at Baekhyun, who was raising a brow.

“What?” Chanyeol asked.

“Where the heck are we even going in the middle of the night?” There was a hint of excitement and amusement in his voice though. “I’m wearing sweatpants for God’s sake.”

“As if it matters… And I have no idea where we should go, to be honest.” Chanyeol showed his pearly white teeth in an innocent smile.

Finally, Baekhyun laughed too. “You’re an idiot, but you know that already, right?”

Chanyeol glanced at him again. “You’re the one who followed me. Doesn’t that make you an even bigger idiot?”

Baekhyun crossed his arms in front of his chest, as he leaned back in the seat. “I can’t really argue with that.” His lips curled into a suppressed grin again. “But seriously now. Where are you driving?”

“Have you ever taken a night stroll alongside the Han River?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “No?”

“Me neither. And strangely enough I feel like having chicken and beer right now.” The taller boy added. “What do you think?”

“Are you telling me to drive us back home this time? Because if you do, I don’t want to.”

“Nope.” Chanyeol gave a quick reply. “We can walk around until I can drive again. Nobody’s telling us to come home earlier anyway.”

“You’re really stupid,” Baekhyun had to admit that it did sound like fun. “I want soju though.” He agreed.

Chanyeol’s smile grew even bigger.

 

\---

 

Seoul was a great city to live in. It was never hard to find a good place to eat in that city; no matter what time of day or night. 

When Chanyeol was driving towards Han River as planned, there happened to be quite a few street food tents. He parked the car on some vacant parking lot. Just like Chanyeol wanted, they had some spicy fried chicken. The beer as well as Baekhyun’s soju went perfectly with it, and this time Baekhyun drunk just enough to feel a little tipsy. Both the alcohol and the chicken helped to keep them warm, and the light buzz hitting their head helped them getting loose-tongued.

As time passed, especially Chanyeol started to talk a lot more. Even more than Baekhyun was used to, but he didn’t mind. He liked the tall boy’s smooth voice anyway, and now his tone dropped slightly deeper and it was a bit raspy too, from the cool air. It was even more pleasant to listen to.

They left the crowded tent after they finished munching on their food, but only after Chanyeol bought another canned beer to take it with him.

Walking along the river was nicer than thought. It was in the middle of November, which meant that Christmas was coming up already. That’s why the crowns of the naked trees all around were blooming with the holiday lights, and the walkway was nicely illuminated with a yellowish-orange light.

At some point they decided to sit down on one of the benches near the riverbank. The benches had no back, which made it possible to sit down facing each other. Only a few people were still walking around, but not too many.

“The chicken’s was pretty good. We should go there again.” Chanyeol took another sip of the beer and looked extremely relaxed like that.

“It’s so nice here, the lights reflecting on the water surface and all, and you still think about the chicken?” Baekhyun gestured with his hands all around them. “It was tasty though.”

Chanyeol really did look around, and his signature smile appeared. Baekhyun felt happy that he was able to appreciate his face from up close like that, and the faint light helped him to make things out in the dark night.

Baekhyun grinned, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Chanyeol.

“What?” The taller one wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “Is there something on my face?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “Your ears are turning red from the cold.” Chanyeol’s brows knitted together. “Don’t worry, it looks cute.”

Chanyeol pursed his lips. “Can you please stop staring at my ears? It’s making me uncomfort-”

Baekhyun didn’t even let him finish his sentence. Instead he moved his hands out of the pockets of his jacket and put his warm palms on Chanyeol’s ears. “So what?” Baekhyun cocked his head to the side when Chanyeol looked at him with his big puppy eyes. “You’re making me uncomfortable all the time. It’s my turn now.” Baekhyun whispered more than spoke. 

“I do?” Chanyeol questioned. “I absolutely didn’t know.”

“You liar.” Baekhyun scoffed, “But it’s okay. It’s not like I hate feeling… uncomfortable at times.”

“Me neither.” Chanyeol said with a low voice, just barely audible.

“Good.” That only meant that there was no need to stop making his stepbrother feel a bit weird too. It was only payback, when Baekhyun’s hands carefully and slowly wandered from Chanyeol’s ears to the sides of his handsome face. “Hmm?” Baekhyun hummed mockingly. “Not only your ears are turning red, but your face too? Are you that cold?” 

Baekhyun fought against the urge to brush his thumb over Chanyeol’s soft looking lips. His eyes darted back to meet Chanyeol’s, and the tall boy smiled dangerously.

“Actually, you seem a bit cold too, Baek.” Chanyeol’s teased back.

The alcohol they had probably was a part of it too, but Baekhyun was sure that the warm feeling in his stomach was mainly caused by the way his stepbrother looked at him that very moment. Baekhyun’s hands quickly moved away from Chanyeol and he stood up. “You’re right. I’m cold, let’s move a bit to warm up.”

Chanyeol laughed at the nervousness of his stepbrother, but he too got up from the bench. To Baekhyun’s surprise however, he took his hand once again and even intertwined their fingers. “I know an awesome place somewhere near here. Well, it’s a bit of a walk, but not too bad. Do you want to go there?”

Baekhyun wasn’t sure about which kind of place Chanyeol was talking about, but if that meant that he was holding his hand the whole time, the only thing he was able to do was agreeing. “Sure, lead the way.”

 

\---

 

It took them longer to get there, than needed, but Chanyeol wasn’t exactly sure about the right way to go. He just knew that they had to go to a certain park, but the park was larger than he remembered, which lead to them walking around for some time.

After all, they found the place. And it was totally worth it. Not only that the walk itself wasn’t that bad to begin with; there were even less people then before on the streets, and the park was pretty even in the night; but the place that Chanyeol was talking about was breathtaking. It was a viewing platform, from which they were able to see over a large part of the city. The Han River was still visible from there, beautifully reflecting the night skyline in front of them. 

“Wow, Seoul looks so nice from up here!” They leaned on the railing, and Chanyeol watched the excited look on Baekhyun’s face with a satisfied smile of his own. “How do you know about this place?”

“It’s pretty nice, huh?” Chanyeol laughed. “I remember coming here with my mom sometimes when I was little. But during the night the view’s even better, now that I see it.”

Baekhyun felt that warmness, just like the last time when Chanyeol took him to that galbi place.  He shared those memories with him again. He remained silent for a while. “I’m sorry that you had to lose your mom.” Baekhyun then said, sincere compassion audible in his voice. “It sounds like she was an amazing person.”

“She was,” Chanyeol agreed. “It’s actually my first time here since her death.”

Baekhyun seemed surprised, and Chanyeol continued with a small smile. “When I’m alone I can’t really visit those places that remind me of her. I can’t handle those memories well. I don’t know why, but somehow it’s not so bad when you’re with me. I don’t really want to visit these places with others, but I get the feeling that you don’t really judge me for still missing my mom.” Chanyeol then laughed. “Oh my God, that sounds cheesy.”

Baekhyun gave him a comforting smile.  “You know, I think it’s because I understand how hard it is to get over someone leaving you. You might think that it’s unfair for me to say, because my dad is still alive. But he left when I was 4. And even before that he wasn’t home much. I wasn’t even able to recognize him when I first watched that performance together with my mom.”

Baekhyun turned and leaned on the railing with his back. “But then he just left us. _He left me_.  I still can’t get over it. I hate him. I really do. But in some way or another…I guess I still miss him. And how hard must it be for you, when you actually loved your mom?”

It was the first time that Baekhyun really opened up and talked about his father that freely. Chanyeol knew that it wasn’t just the alcohol speaking. It had been a few hours already since Baek had something to drink, and he wasn’t really drunk to begin with. No, it was not the soju, but for the first time Baekhyun trusted Chanyeol enough to tell him those things. He then continued. 

“Worst part of it all is, that I’m becoming more and more like him. It must be like hell for my mom to look at me. I know, because sometimes I hate looking at myself too. And it hurts that I love music just as much as he did. I feel bad because I enjoy it so much.” Baekhyun let out a dry laugh. “I’m sorry, you were talking about your mom and now I’m rambling about myself again.”

But it felt good to let it all out. His fears and all those thoughts were bottled up for long already. And they were finally getting all out.

Chanyeol turned then too. He understood what Baekhyun was saying, and how he was feeling. “I can’t tell you to stop missing your dad, since I'm the same as you. I’m not even telling you to stop hating your dad. You have all right to do so. But…” Chanyeol hesitated for a moment. “You shouldn’t stop yourself from doing what you love because of him.”

Silence followed after that. Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol was right. It was the truth. But for now, he didn’t want to think about it any longer. The view up there was beautiful, and the night was fun so far, and this was dragging them both down.

So he changed the topic.

“I actually was awake in the morning.” Baekhyun admitted, the corner of his mouth drew upwards.

Chanyeol chuckled at the confession, not minding that he didn't really answer. “I know.” 

“You did?” Baekhyun looked at him with a slight frown.

“Your whole body went stiff when your friend asked me about it.” Chanyeol remarked. “You need to practice your acting skills.”

“Do you really like teasing me that much?” The half-grin on his face was enough of an answer. “You weren’t surprised about _it_ though. You knew about that too, right?”

“Well, I kinda suspected it, so…” Chanyeol agreed.

Baekhyun laughed again. “I didn’t know that I was being so obvious.”

“Why? Was it supposed to be a secret? Should I act like I don’t know?” Chanyeol’s voice sounded challenging.

The shorter boy shrugged, “Does it make a difference?”

Baekhyun was trying to avoid eye contact, but Chanyeol wouldn’t let him. He moved to grip the railing on the left and right side of the smaller boy’s body, which left Baekhyun caged in between his arms. The tall boy looked down at him, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“It does make a huge difference,” he said, his voice deep and low. “If I pretend like I don’t know, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

And not even a second later, Chanyeol’s lips were touching Baekhyun’s slightly parted ones. Surprise left Baekhyun overwhelmed and unable to react. It was more a peck than anything, but it still made his stomach flip. The way Chanyeol looked at him afterwards didn’t help either.  

“Hmm…” Baekhyun hummed, trying hard to sound calm and unaffected. “I don’t know. If that’s all, it might be better for you to forget it.”

That was all Chanyeol needed. He finally allowed himself to run his fingers through the hair on the back of Baekhyun’s head. He pulled Baekhyun’s face closer, and kissed - _really_ kissed - him this time. Their hot breathes mingled together, which made them both feel warm despite of the cool air around them.

Chanyeol gently tucked on the soft, brown strands, and Baekhyun responded to it by letting his tongue brush over Chanyeol’s bottom lip. The taller boy’s own pink muscle met Baekhyun’s and the faint sweet taste of soju mixed with the bitterness of the beer.

Baekhyun’s started to smile in the kiss and when they moved away from each other, just enough to look at each other, he let out a whispered laugh. “What are we even doing?” A warm shudder was running down his spine, because Chanyeol continued to caress the sensitive skin on the nape of his neck with his cold fingertips. Baekhyun himself was gripping Chanyeol’s jacket, but his hands moved up to intertwine behind Chanyeol’s head. “Is this one of the fun things you had in mind when you dragged me to the car?”

Chanyeol’s mouth stretched into a wide smile. “ _Maybe_?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, but he drew Chanyeol in for one last kiss that left them both breathless for some time.

Chanyeol broke the silence first. “Do you still want me to pretend that I don’t know about that secret of yours?”

Baekhyun looked at him, he was smiling so much his eyes turned into crescent shapes. “Aren’t you a part of it now?”

 

\---

 

On their way back, they decided to stop at a Starbucks to warm themselves up and Chanyeol wanted to sober up some more before driving. It was already dawn then, and the streets started to get busy with people rushing to wherever they had to be.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure if this whole thing was okay; just a few hours before, he had told Sehun about how wrong this all could go, and now _this_ happened? But it made him feel good, and a happy and bubbly feeling was filling up his stomach, while he watched Chanyeol drinking his coffee.

“This is nice.” The taller boy said, as if he was capable of reading Baekhyun’s mind. “Just sitting around, having coffee with you. It’s simple, but I like it.”

Baekhyun rested his head on his palm and thought about it. Maybe Sehun was right. Maybe he was a too pessimistic. Maybe _this_ could work after all. Whatever ‘ _this’_ was.

Yeah. _This_. They weren’t a couple. But they weren’t just stepsiblings either. It was a mix of both, and in the end did it really matter what this relationship was called?

“I like _this_ too.” Baekhyun agreed.

Silence took over once again, but it wasn’t awkward. They listened to the quiet music in the background, and Baekhyun tapped his fingers on his cup to the beat of it. They watched the busy people that picked up some coffee before work, in order to fight the tiredness. They heard the soft noise of the person that typed something down on his laptop in a frantic manner on the neighboring table... 

The two of them both seemed to be deep in thoughts as they did so. After some while Baekhyun spoke up. “You know, maybe you’re right.”

Chanyeol raised a brow, giving Baekhyun a slightly confused look. “About what?”

“About doing the things I like without caring about anything else. I mean… Isn’t this.” He gestured towards Chanyeol, then pointed at himself. “Isn’t this something that our parents won’t accept, too? But why should that stop me? I enjoy it.”

Chanyeol’s expression got softer at those words. “Exactly.”

"Still..."  Baekhyun started. "Let’s see where this goes first, before we tell our parents?” Because yes; Baekhyun was afraid. If this was really going to work somehow… His mother would never accept it. Chanyeol’s dad wouldn’t either. It was twisted after all. Her son was not only gay, but he was in a relationship with her stepson?

And then there was that fight she was having with her newlywed husband already … Baekhyun hoped and wished for his mom to be happy. So at least he had to wait until she made up with Chanyeol’s dad until he was able to drop his secrets to her one by one. Being gay. The music. Chanyeol. Missing his dad.

Baekhyun felt bad about it, but Chanyeol’s soft smile diminished that uneasy feeling at least a little.

Chanyeol nodded in agreement, “Sure. Let’s do that.”

\---

They came home around ten in the morning. On their drive back home (and it took them some time to remember where they parked the car) Chanyeol suggested to watch some TV, and spend the majority of the day on the couch. Fatigue was starting to wash over them after all, since they stayed up all night. Baekhyun was going to take a shower first, to warm him up. He was freezing, and Chanyeol said that he was picking a movie in the meantime.

When Baekhyun went to his room to pick up some fresh clothes, he noticed that he didn’t even have his phone with him the whole night. It was still in the pocket of his school uniform’s pants. He unlocked the screen and there were two missed calls form Sehun and some unimportant Facebook notifications.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes with a grin. Sehun was probably just moping again, because he was left _alone_ at school. That’s why Baekhyun ignored the calls for now. He would call him back later. He just wanted to take that shower and rest on the couch. His eyelids felt heavy and he had to yawn at minute intervals.

Later on, when he was showered, Chanyeol decided for a quick shower too, and when he came back to the living room, Baekhyun smiled at him. “I just remembered that I have my theory test tomorrow.” He told the tall boy, when he sat down as close as possible to Baekhyun. He wrapped one arm around the smaller boy and enjoyed the warmth they shared.  

“Tomorrow? Already?” There was slight concern in his voice.

“Yeah. I should look over some topics again tomorrow morning, but I think I’ll pass this time.” Baekhyun liked the way Chanyeol played with his still damp hair.

“That’s good then. Even though I’m kinda disappointed that we can’t spend much time tomorrow.” Chanyeol laughed. “I’ll take you there and wait until you’re finished.”  

“I’d like that.” Baekhyun sheepishly said.

The two of them spent the whole day on the couch just as planned. For lunch Baekhyun made them some ramen. He was far from being a good cook, but at least he could make some decent noodles.

In the afternoon they fell asleep, and when they woke up again, they talked about all kind of things; their favorite subjects, favorite TV shows and addictions, their friends and stuff like that.

“Speaking of which, I should call back that idiotic friend of mine.” Baekhyun remembered.

Chanyeol raised a corner of his lips, “Sehun?”

Baekhyun nodded, picked up the phone from the coffee table and sat back down, cross-legged.

“How long have you been friends?” Chanyeol wanted to know, while Baekhyun was scrolling through his contacts.

“About fourteen years? I really didn’t like him at first. He was rude and making fun of me, because I was always shorter than him since we were little. He took away my things in school. My favorite pencils and stuff like that.”

Chanyeol grinned. Sehun still looked like a trouble maker, whose hobby was to annoy the hell out of Baekhyun. “So how did you become friends?”

Baekhyun looked up from his phone, “We both often had to stay at school longer than the others. Our mothers weren’t able to pick us up right away. I remember that we started our friendship by playing Pokémon together. We still kinda disliked each other at first. He was more the Charmander type of boy, while I always loved Squirtle.” Baekhyun laughed as he wallowed in those memories. “But after all, water type Pokémon beat fire types. He always said that he would train his Charmander until he beats my Squirtle. He never did, but we developed a great friendship nevertheless, since we started to spend so much time together.” Baekhyun still grinned. “Later on, we started to hang out a lot at my place, since my mom was working most part of the day. He was practically living at my place. But his parents started to nag him about his grades and stuff like that later on, so we can’t spend that much time together anymore.”

Baekhyun then finally pressed the call button. It rang and rang until the voice mail started. “That’s strange. He should be home from school by now. Why isn’t he picking up?”

“Maybe he’s busy doing something. Or he just didn’t hear it.” Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun tried it again after a few minutes. _“The person you have called is temporarily not available.”_

Baekhyun shook his head. “Did he turn off his phone now? Is he really mad because I didn’t go to school again?”

“Maybe his phone just died on him?”

Even though that was pretty typical for Sehun - the blond boy spent so much time with his phone he was practically in a relationship with it - he still wasn't convinced. “Maybe you’re right. If he doesn’t call me back, I’ll try later again.”

He should have phoned him in the morning as soon as he had seen the missed calls. Now he felt guilty about ignoring them. “I just hope he’s not mad at me...”


End file.
